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The Department of Agriculture launched the latest phase of its flagship food security initiative, “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na! Para sa Magsasaka,” in four additional locations across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. According to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., the P20-per-kilo rice is available in Laoag City (Ilocos Norte), Roxas City (Capiz), Baloy, Cagayan de Oro City […]
A week after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced a two-month suspension of rice importation starting September 1, farm gate prices of palay have begun to rise in six of the 13 key rice-producing regions, according to data from the National Food Authority (NFA). Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the government is closely monitoring […]
The Department of Agriculture (DA) is accelerating the rollout of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s flagship food security program “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!,” which aims to provide rice at P20 per kilo to 15 million households by 2026. On August 29, the DA will include fisherfolk to the growing list of beneficiaries of the affordable rice […]
Eighteen warehouses of the National Food Authority (NFA) across Central and Northern Luzon opened their gates, welcoming rice farmers and farm workers seeking access to the P20 ‘Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!’ Rice Project—President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s flagship initiative to make rice more affordable for those who grow it. Eligible rice farmers—those tilling two hectares or […]
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. and National Irrigation Administrator Eduardo Guillen joined thousands of rice farmers and members of irrigators’ associations across the country’s top rice-producing province to celebrate this year’s Second Dry Season Harvest Festival. During the event, a ceremonial harvesting of palay was conducted on a 5.7-hectare farmland of Arsenio Mallare, a […]
The Department of Agriculture (DA) is moving forward with expansion of the P20 rice program of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to smallholder rice farmers despite criticisms of self-styled farmer leaders. Slated for launch on August 13, the initiative will allow millions of rice farmers—those tilling no more than three hectares and registered under the Registry […]
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the decision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to suspend rice imports for 60 days—while holding off on a tariff hike—is a “measured response” to the current challenges faced by rice farmers. “The suspension is a more calibrated action—one that we can quickly reverse if needed,” Tiu Laurel said. “It gives […]
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has expressed full support for a new Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) that aims to strengthen inter-agency coordination and streamline the entry of strategic investments, particularly in the agriculture and fisheries sectors. Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. signed the JMC, which enhances the operational mechanism of the Investment Facilitation Network […]
Senator Kiko Pangillinan, who now chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, is pushing for the strengthening and expansion of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) extension services to reach farmers in the provinces. Pangilinan lamented that currently, farmers couldn’t access the DA’s services because the agency only has regional offices. “Ang extension […]
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said that he will recommend to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the distribution of frozen mackerel recently seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) at the ports of Manila and Subic. Laboratory tests conducted by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources confirmed that the smuggled fish are safe for […]